Apparatus for dyeing carpets and other fabrics



Dec. 10, 1968 APPARATUS FOR DYEING CARPETS AND OTHER FABRICS Filed Jan.25, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet l` (op vocoeooannnooo APPARATUS FOR DYEINGCARPETS AND OTHER FABRICS Filed Jan. 25, 1967 Dec. 10, 1968 E. wlLFoRDETAL.

5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 10, 1968 E.w|| FoRD ETAL 3,415,084

APPARATUS FOR DYEING CARPETS AND OTHER FABRICS Filed Jan. 25, 1967 5Sheets-Sheet 3 United States Patent O 3,415,084 APPARATUS FOR DYEINGCARPETS AND OTHER FABRICS Ernest Wilford, Bingley, England, John K.Hanson,

Bangor, Northern Ireland, and John Whalley, Whitefield, England,assignors to The Bradford Dyers Association Limited, Bradford,Yorkshire, England, a British company Filed Jan. 25, 1967, Ser. No.611,760 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Jan. 25, 1966,3,339/ 66 6 Claims. (Cl. 68-9) ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE An apparatusfor dyeing carpets and other fabrics includes a dye bath and a steamingchamber through which the carpet is led for dyeing and then steaming.The entrance to the steaming chamber is above the dye bath and the dyebath is vertically adjustable to vary the distance of travel between thedye bath and steaming chamber to accommodate different fabrics havingvarying dye requirements.

` This invention relates to apparatus for dyeing carpets and otherfabrics in long lengths. It is particularly applicable to the dyeing ofcarpets, but the apparatus can also be used for the dyeing of any fabricin the piece, for example blanket fabric.

There are two conventional methods of piece-dyeing lengths of carpet. Inthe first, known as beck or winch dyeing, the carpet is circulated for aperiod of hours through a dye bath, the disadvantage of this methodbeing that the colour may be shaded across the width of the carpet fromthe edge to the middle. In the second conventional method, known as padsteam dyeing, the carpet is passed between pad rollers by which thecolour is applied to it, and then is steamed. In practice it is foundthat there is difficulty in applying colour uniformly to a considerablewidth of carpet by pad rollers, with the result that there may bestreaks on the dyed carpet.

We have found that a carpet or other fabric can be satisfactorily andconsistently dyed if it is simply passed through a dye bath and thensteamed in a steaming chamber, provided that it is uniformly saturatedwith the dye on entering the steaming chamber. If it is not uniformlysaturated, then the dye tends to move within the carpet and unevencolouring results. If it is over-saturated, the dye runs down the carpetas it moves vertically through the steaming chamber and streaks appear.

We have also found that the period of drainage of the fabric fromleaving the dye bath to entry into the steaming chamber is critical inthat the fabric must shed liquid in excess of its requirements but notbe permitted to drain beyond the point of saturation. Now carpets differin fibre, construction and pile weight. Thus carpets may be made ofnylon, viscose, acrylic fibres, or wool, and they may vary in weightfrom 14 to 50 ounces per square yard. The amount of dye liquor requiredjust to saturate the carpet Varies enormously. Other fabrics likewisevary in their requirements for dye liquor.

Now it is the common practice for the manufacturer of the carpet orother fabric to send his fabric to a dyer in the piece, and the dryermust therefore be able to dye all the carpets and fabrics in one and thesame apparatus.

In an apparatus according to this invention means are provided forleading a fabric through a dye bath and upwards therefrom to enter theupper end of a steaming chamber in which it is steamed while .travellingin loops, and the dye bath is carried by a support that is verticallyadjustable so that the vertical distance between the dye ICC bath andthe upper end of the steaming chamber can be varied. By adjusting theposition of the dye bath it becomes possible to dye any fabric uniformlyand without colour streaks.

Since the fabric enters the steaming chamber at the upper end of this,it moves downwards in its initial loop run. This is advantageous,because when the fabric comes into contact with the steam someadditional movement of the dye, that is to say, drainage, may takeplace, and it is desirable that any dye moving in this way should notmove towards the part of the fabric that is entering the steamingchamber.

Preferably means are provided for rapidly heating the fabric as ittravels from the dye bath to a point at which it moves vertically withinthe steaming chamber. These heating means, which may take the form ofsteam coils, oil-heated heat exchangers or infra red heaters, may bearranged within the steaming chamber, but it is better to arrange themin a separate chamber through which the fabric travels on its way fromthe dye bath to the steaming chamber. It is desirable that the fabricshould travel horizontally while being thus preheated. The purpose ofthe preheating is to raise the temperature of the dye rapidly, and so toassist in the striking of the colour into the fibre. This minimises therisk of streaks appearing on the finished fabric as a result of excessdye liquid running down the fabric when it first travels vertically inthe steaming chamber. The desirability of effecting such preheatingdepends upon the nature of the dye and the nature of the fibres.

The preferred apparatus according to' the invention Will now bedescribed by way of example with reference to the accompanyingdiagrammatic drawings, in which:

FIGURE l is a diagrammatic elevation of the apparatus;

FIGURE 2 is a view on the line II-II in FIGURE l;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged view of the dye bath and its support; and

FIGURE 4 shows the inlet to a preheating chamber on a still largerscale.

In the apparatus shown a roll of carpet 1 around a tube 2 is supportedat each end by a stand 3 that includes two freely r-otating rol-lers 4.

The carpet is drawn oif the roll and passes through a dye bath 5 andthen upwards around. a roller 6 at the inlet of a preheating chamber 7which is carried 'by a steaming chamber 8. The carpet passes from thechamber 7 into the chamber 8 through a slot `between two tubes 9, andthen travels in deep loops around rollers 10 and in contact with guiderollers 11. After passing over the last rollers 10 the carpet travelsdownwards and out of the steaming chamber 8 through a water-sealedoutlet not shown. The steaming chamber 8 and the rollers in it areconventional, all the rollers 10 being positively driven from a maindriving shaft 12 through variable speed gears 13 (shown whollydagrammatically) which are interconnected by shafts 14. T he roller 6 isdriven by a belt 15 from the lirst roller 10. The carpet is-driven 'byits frictional engagement with the rollers 6 and 10.

Steam is injected into the chamber 8 through pipes 16.

The dye bath 5 is carried `by a support 17 with which three sleeves 18,19 and 20 are rigid. The sleeve 18 is internally threaded and engages avertical threaded rod 21, the lower end of which is Icarried in a gearbox 22 and which itself carries a bevel gear in the box. A shaft 23carries a handle 24 and also a bevel gear meshing with that carried bythe rod 21. The sleeves 19 and 20 engage plain `guide rods 25 and 26which are supported at their upper ends by 'brackets 27 on the chamber7. If the handle 24 is turned, the sleeve 18, and therefore the support17 and the dye -bath 5, will Ibe forced to move vertically.

At each end of the dye bath 5 there is a bracket 28, the two brackets 28carrying -a roller 29 for guiding the carpet into the dye bath. The bathis internally spanned by a roller 30 around which the carpet passeswhile immersed in dye liquor. This liquor is fed to the dye bath 5 froma reservoir 31 by a pump 32 through a pipe 33 controlled `by a valve 34.This valve 34 is operated in accordance with the level of the dye liquorin the dye Ibath 5 by a float 35 in a liquid-level control tank 36which' communicates with the dye `bath 5 through a ilexible pipe 37. Thefloat actuates a relay 38 through which the valve 34 is opened andclosed, so as to maintain the liquid level in the dye bath substantiallyconstant. The residence time of a fabric in the steaming chamber 8 isdetermined by the speed at which the rollers are driven. However,different fabrics may require longer or shorter periods of immersion inthe dye liquor, but the same period of travel through the steamingchamber 8. It is therefore convenient to be able to adjust the depth ofthe liquor in the dye `bath 5, and the control tank 36 is madevertically adjustable in relation to the bath 5, so that the liquidlevel at which the float 35 operates the relay can 'be varied. To thisend the tank 36 is carried by arms 39 pivoted to the dye bath 5 andcapable of being locked in any desired angular setting.

The entrance t-o the preheating chamber 7 is formed between the roller 6and the underside of a tray 40` which extends inwards from the wall ofthe chamber, so that a narrow passage 41 is formed just above thesurface of the carpet 1, see FIG. 4. An opening is made in the roof ofthe chamber 8 and receives a pipe 42 connected to a fan 43 whichexhausts into a discharge duct. This fan draws in Yboth air through thenarrow passage 41 and steam from the preheating chamber (as shown byarrows). If steam were to pass outwards through the entrance to thechamber 7 is might condense on cold metal to form drops which in turnmight fall onto and discolour the carpet. The air drawn in through thenarrow passage 41 prevents such outward passage of steam. Any condensateis collected in the tray 40 and discharged through end outlets 45.

In the preheating chamber there are steam coils 44 fed with steam tomaintain a high temperature in the chamber 7. It will be seen that theroller 6 and therst roller 10 provide a horizontal path for the carpetwhile it is being preheated.

We claim:

1. An apparatus for dyeing fabrics in long lengths comprising a dyebath, a steaming chamber in which the fabric is steamed while travellingin loops, and means for leading the fabric through the dye bath andupwards therefrom to enter the upper end of the steaming chamber, thedye `bath being carried 'by a support that is vertically adjustable sothat the vertical distance between the dye bath and the upper end of thesteaming chamber can be adjusted in accordance with the nature of thefabric to be dyed.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1 in which means are provided forrapidly preheating the fabric as it travels from the dye bath to a pointat which it moves vertically downwards within the steaming chamber.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2 in which the heating means aremounted in a separate preheating chamber through which the fabrictravels on its way from the dye bath to the upper end of the steamingchamber.

4. An apparatus according to claim 2 having rollers providing ahorizontal path for the fabric while it is being preheated.

5. An apparatus according to claim 3 having means for exhausting thepreheating chamber.

6. An apparatus according to claim 1 including a dye reservoir, a pumpfor pumping dye liquor from the dye reservoir to the dye bath, and meansresponsive to the level of the liquid in the dye bath for controllingthe delivery of liquor to the reservoir by the pump.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,738,946 12/1929 Chapin et al.68-5 X 2,199,342 4/1940 Johnson 8--151 X WILLIAM I. PRICE, PrimaryExaminer.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 68-5

